Manual focus of 50mm
- Thread starter Nickler
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- Richard
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Probably doing nothing wrong - manually focusing a modern camera designed to be used with AF is not easy.
They have smaller viewfinders (because of the crop factor) and are often darker. The focusing screens are not optimised for low f/numbers, and though you might be able to change this for a better one, it won't be quite so bright for normal shooting. And then, depending on the lens, the manual focusing mech may not fine enough for really critical accuracy.
Your best bet is probably a different focusing screen, plus practise.
Having said that, manually focusing an old full frame film SLR was never that easy.
They have smaller viewfinders (because of the crop factor) and are often darker. The focusing screens are not optimised for low f/numbers, and though you might be able to change this for a better one, it won't be quite so bright for normal shooting. And then, depending on the lens, the manual focusing mech may not fine enough for really critical accuracy.
Your best bet is probably a different focusing screen, plus practise.
Having said that, manually focusing an old full frame film SLR was never that easy.
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- Joe
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If its either the 1.4 of 1.8 50mm i wonder if you've fallen into the same trap as i did?
When i first got mine i used to shoot wide open as much as possible. At this focal length on a crop body wide open you'll only get a razor thin depth of field. I kept ending up with my subjects only having one eye in sharp focus.
Try increasing the distance to your subject or stopping down a bit and you'll find it's easier to focus manually.
When i first got mine i used to shoot wide open as much as possible. At this focal length on a crop body wide open you'll only get a razor thin depth of field. I kept ending up with my subjects only having one eye in sharp focus.
Try increasing the distance to your subject or stopping down a bit and you'll find it's easier to focus manually.
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Correct... thank heavens for the distance marker on the lens and a rough understanding of hyperfocal...
BarryG
I'll stick to my 2 inches
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Just found this here
Features, continued:
* Auto-Exposure/Auto-Focus Lock button, selectable AEL & AFL, AEL, AFL, AEL Hold and AF On function.
* Customizable sharpness, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue.
* Customizable function button.
* JPEG and RAW modes.
* Rangefinder manual focus assist.
* Adaptive D-Lighting for high-contrast situations.
* Hardware dust-reduction to reduce the need to clean the image sensor.
* Lithium-ion battery.
* Secure Digital High Capacity memory support.
Features, continued:
* Auto-Exposure/Auto-Focus Lock button, selectable AEL & AFL, AEL, AFL, AEL Hold and AF On function.
* Customizable sharpness, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue.
* Customizable function button.
* JPEG and RAW modes.
* Rangefinder manual focus assist.
* Adaptive D-Lighting for high-contrast situations.
* Hardware dust-reduction to reduce the need to clean the image sensor.
* Lithium-ion battery.
* Secure Digital High Capacity memory support.
Nod
Tootles
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- Nod (UK)
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Another thing that doesn't help manually focussing an AF lens on a modern SLR is that a small movement of the focus ring is a large adjustment, so it's all too easy to go too far and miss the focus confirm light.
The only real cure is to spend some of the saving made buying the cheaper bodies on an f/1.4 AF-S or HSM lens.
The only real cure is to spend some of the saving made buying the cheaper bodies on an f/1.4 AF-S or HSM lens.